Election 2016

For my own sanity, this will be the last thing I post about the election. And I'm going to TRY not to comment on anyone else's election posts. We'll see. I was gathering my thoughts about the election, and it somehow became a blog post in my head. Ever since 1992, my first election in which I ever voted, I've heard every four years that it was the "most important election in our country's history." America would fall apart if a democrat got into office. Well, that year, Bill Clinton won the election. I remember the fear and apprehension I felt when I learned the results. Afraid for my future and for the future of any children that I might have, I couldn't even fathom how there could be people out there who voted for those Democrats! When Obama got into office, I was told that he was going to turn America into a third world country. Literally. For real, people. Third world country. I was terrified again. The only sane voice I heard was my rock of a husband telling me that it would, indeed, be okay. I admit, I questioned his sanity, but thank God he stuck with me! 
I've voted out of fear. I've voted for people just to vote against someone else. I've bought into the hype, the hysteria, the insecurity that I've been told I need to feel. When I look back over this, I am sad and disappointed. Because most of the people who were telling me these things were people who should've been saying, "God is in charge. God is in control. God is our rock and our fortress. We can trust him." But I'm seeing the same thing again this election year. The pastors that are proclaiming that this is the one that's going to change it all. And I'm sure some of you will try to convince me that this year really is different. One thing I know is that I serve a sovereign God, who appoints kings to their thrones. He knows the plans he has for us. He holds the whole world in his hands.
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.....Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" Psalm 46 1-3; 10-11

Y'all, we can trust him even if the mountains are falling into the ocean!!! Do you know what kinda scary that would be?? Just think about it!! But we can trust him even then. Why?? Because HE IS IN CONTROL. He has the plans all written out. Not one thing can happen in my life, in your life, in the life of America or the world without his direction! Why wouldn't I trust him?? If I really believe that book that he wrote for me, why in the world would I be anxious right now? No matter who gets elected, he is still on the throne. He commands me not to be anxious. He tells me not to worry. He tells me that he will take care of tomorrow.

I will vote. I will vote my conscience. I will not vote AGAINST anyone. I will vote FOR someone. It will not be for either of the two major party candidates. I will vote knowing that my chosen candidate will not win, but I will sleep at night knowing that I didn't vote for any candidate that doesn't live by the character that I wouldn't want my children to emulate. I will vote with enthusiasm in my local elections. I will do what I can to change our country, starting with my own city. I'm proud that our governor said that TN would take Syrian immigrants because I believe that's what Jesus would do. I want to work with the immigration ministry in Knoxville to help these scared foreigners feel loved, welcomed and taken care of. I want to work towards racial reconciliation and unity in Knoxville and in all of America. I want to work toward a future America that's greater than it's ever been. To me, that means serving the oppressed, working towards justice for all, loving the least of these.

Maybe that's not possible. Maybe America is too far gone. But my desire above all things is to love God and love people. That's it. Maybe some people think that's too simple minded. Maybe it is. But it's what I see when I look into God's Word. The Word became flesh, and he dwelt among us. And when someone asked him what was the most important commandment of all, he said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself." So there you have it. Love God. Love people. When I look into the teachings of Christ, I see nothing about keeping safe or secure. I see that he tells us that we will be persecuted for his sake. I see nothing about making sure we have more. I see that he tells us not to worry about food or clothes or shelter for the future. I see that he tells us that life is precious. ALL life is precious, not just the unborn. Of course unborn life is precious! But so are immigrant lives, black lives, homeless lives, homosexual lives and all other lives that don't look exactly like mine. All lives are precious to him. And I don't find either party platform telling me that they believe that. 

Personally, I would think both options were pretty scary if I didn't know where my security lies. But I do know. I know because he has told me, and I believe him. I refuse to be anxious because I know that my Redeemer lives and he is in control even if the mountains shall fall into the sea. Even if Hillary Clinton gets into office. Even if Donald Trump gets into office. Even if all the next SCOTUS nominees are pro-choice democrats (because seriously, people, what have the republicans done about abortion laws in the past 43 years????) My Redeemer has a plan. He plans to give me a hope and a future. And I trust that his plan is better than anything I could ever come up with. And certainly better than anything any politician could!

So there it is--my unsolicited political opinion. And now I'm done. Come on, November, so I can stop reading all the crap in my newsfeed!! And Jesus will be glorified, no matter the outcome. He will still be on the throne.
"He has told you, oh man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God." Micah 6:8

40 days of prayer for America

It's now 37 days until the election. Three days ago, the campaign "40 days of prayer for America" began. You can find them at this website or link to them on facebook at this site.

"If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."                           ~2 Chronicles 7:14

This is the premise on which this campaign was started. The promise is very easy to see. The audience to which he is speaking is easy to see as well. So many times, those of use who consider ourselves "His children" point our fingers at the culture and say "They are the problem." But God isn't expecting anything from them! We are the ones accountable. We are the ones who have been given the truth and have rejected it by compromising, not speaking boldly in love, sitting back and enjoying our comfortable life. We haven't served like Jesus served. We haven't loved like Jesus loved. We haven't sacrificed like Jesus sacrificed. The Christian life isn't a call to Easy Street. Jesus says that we must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow him. (Luke 9:23) That's not what most of us do.

This cuts deep. Believe me. I'm right there with everyone else--not denying myself or taking up my cross! It's gotten easy to spout off our theological knowledge, sound good in Bible study and "work real hard" to do the right things.

For decades now, Christians have sat back and let the culture disintegrate before their very eyes. We sit in our beautiful churches on our comfortable pews or in our Bible studies with desserts and coffee--talking theology about how we should be salt and light, what we can do to make a difference, and discuss WWJD??

All the while there are hurting people. People walking right outside our churches--afraid to darken the doors because of the judgement they've felt there. People who are physically hungry, with no place to call home. People who have real hurts and real troubles. Some of them are actually sitting right there in our pews and Bible studies. And we usually don't even take the time to notice--and we don't want to notice because it's messy. Real life is messy. Real life sucks sometimes. Real life is hard and sad and unlovely a lot of the time! That's why as Christians, we can look forward to the wonderful promise of life eternal with Jesus!!

But that's not what this post was supposed to be about. If we look inside of our hearts, we know that we have left our first love. We may come back to him now and again, but on a day to day basis, most of us don't remember what it's like to really be in love with Jesus. And that's our call--to love him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. If we aren't doing that everyday, then this verse is for us--to humble ourselves and pray, seek his face, turn from our wicked ways.....

When we do that, he makes a promise. And God always keeps his promises. He will hear us from heaven, forgive our sin and heal our land. Wow! Do we need that??? And look, it has nothing to do with the unbelievers!! There's no conditions about them. We don't need to change them or get them to live "right." We don't need to change their views on gay marriage or even abortion. We don't need them to think the same way about the economy or war that we do. We don't have to worry about any of that. We won't change our land through laws or a different Commander in Chief.

Only Jesus can heal our land.

And all we have to do is pray--repent, turn from our wicked ways. We need to return to our first love and live like he lived, serve like he served, sacrifice like he sacrificed. Why? To earn God's affection? To make ourselves good enough to deserve our land to be healed and our sins to be forgiven? NO! If that was the case, we'd be in sad shape for sure! God calls us into relationship with him. That's what he desires. He wants us to recognize our need for him. He knows that the only way we will have true joy is to love him first, to put all of our hope and trust in him alone because everyone and everything else will fail. He commands to be the ONLY God. He commands that we have NO other idols. We have a lot of idols in America. I'm pretty sure he was thinking of modern day America (as well as Israel) when we was directing the author to write this.

So no matter what your political preference--if you are a child of God, I'm sure you're concerned about the state of our country. These 40 days of prayer are nothing about a certain candidate or political party. They are a calling of the Christians in our nation to turn back to their first love. Please join me and thousands of other Christians around the country in praying specifically for these things over the next days until the election--and beyond!

I believe with all my heart that God set the leader of our country where he is. I believe just as firmly that he has planned and set the next president as well. Personally, I don't think I can change that with my prayers. I believe these prayers are for the hearts of God's children. All we can do is open our own hearts, repent of our own sin, and seek his face ourselves. He will handle the land. He will control the leadership. He uses Christians and non-Christians alike to fulfill his purpose. So I can rest in the sovereignty of my Lord. I will do my part and vote for the people that I think will be most likely to carry out and represent my beliefs and values. And that's all I can do besides pray. And pray I will.

I encourage you to do the same.....

Oh Florida, why did you do it??

I've been proud to be a Floridian over the past couple of years--proud of the conservative House that we have in our State government. They've done a great job trying to keep Obama's decisions at bay. I appreciate all they've done. But today, I'm embarrassed! How can someone do something as stupid as banning the word "uterus" from the House floor??? Now, the link that I've posted here is from a liberal source. Of course it is!! They are the ones having a hay day with this. Forget all of the good things that the House has done this year. Now they've screwed it all up because THIS is what everyone is going to be talking about!!

Forget about the fact that in a few days they are going to be trying to get a law passed that would require a doctor to give an ultrasound to a woman considering an abortion and then talk with her in depth about what actually happens during an abortion. How great is that?? But now, all we get to hear is how no one is allowed to talk about "them", but they are trying to pass a law that is all about "them!"

Don't get me wrong. I understand the reasoning behind the statement made by the Speaker of the House. He asked a Democratic House member to avoid using the word "uterus" (according to a female Republican colleague) because there are younger, under age pages there working in the House. He wanted to make sure they didn't offend anyone. But in making that rule, he actually made the word "uterus" a dirty word! I can tell you that if my children had been there, they wouldn't have thought a thing of it. They know exactly what it is (surprise, surprise) and would have been pretty shocked to hear it banned.

IT'S AN ORGAN for goodness sake!!

What affect is this going to have on the the upcoming decision to inform women before having abortions? Who knows? I certainly hope it doesn't have any affect. I think that bill has a good chance of being passed in our conservative House. It's a bill that needs to be passed. But all we're going to hear from the liberal media is about the stupid statement banning the word "uterus" instead of the important issues at hand.

I think it was a stupid decision, quickly made, and I'm sure completely regretted at this point!! But let's get on with it and focus on the real issues--please!

Pence Amendment to H.R. 1

I usually don't post about a lot of political things. The truth is, I don't keep up with politics too well these days. That's not because I don't care. Actually, it's the opposite. I care a little too much, and I get a little obsessed. Back during the 2008 Presidential election, I was very involved. I got my kids involved, and I just really believed in my heart that there was no way America could elect an inexperienced community leader whose birth origin was actually in question. But we did. In the whirlwind of 2009 and all the things that Obama brought about (and continues to) I became quite depressed at the state of our country. My husband has asked me to please stay away from all things political for the betterment of our family. :) I am in agreement!! My life has been much happier and blissful in my current state of ignorance. I fully trust that my husband will inform me of things that I need to know! :) Now, please don't get me wrong. I don't mean this to say that I haven't continued to be involved in anything. I do email, write and call my senators and congressmen. I do have thoughts and ideas of my own about bills and laws that are being passed. I just choose not to let it rule my life these days! I'm an "all or nothing" kind of girl!

That being said, the ruling this week on the Pence Amendment (or #11) to H.R. 1 is something that I am passionate about. I am passionate about life--the life that starts at conception--each life that is God ordained and planned by Him. So I was, of course, in agreement with the Pence Amendment. This amendment essentially states that Planned Parenthood would lose federal funding. To most people who walk in my "circles" Planned Parenthood is a dirty little place that is summed up in one word--abortion. I realize, however, that there are other services performed. I know a couple of people personally who get their annual physical and pap done there. I know they conduct STD testing and a line of other women's services. These services also include handing out birth control like candy--whether the women are 14 or 40 years old. Among our "enlightened" culture today, I'm sure these things are usually seen as helpful to keep away unwanted pregnancies and the spread of STDs. Education is the answer, right? But PP is sending out the wrong education in my opinion. I realize that it's been a long time in our country since abstinence has actually been advocated on a large scale basis (besides anyone but the church) but I still believe that's the answer. No condom or birth control pill is 100% effective.

But even that is not what this post is really about. Obviously, with the passing of the Pence Amendment this week in the House, there has been a huge outcry from the Planned Parenthood community. Last night on Facebook, one of my friends had a "stand with PP" post in the newsfeed. It sparked my interest, and this morning I decided to do a little research to see what's going on out there with this passing. There are some heated debates going on. On the Planned Parenthood side, there is outrage that the government would take away funding for the poor women of our country to get access to healthcare. As much as I agree with the amendment, it is ironic that our country that just passed a universal healthcare law would now decide that women can't get it from PP. Their outcry is that it's not about abortion--it's about all the other services that are being taken out of the reaches of women who can't pay for them. They are crying "Hyde Amendment!" This amendment was brought to pass in 1976 to say that federal funding can not be used for abortions. Today, this has been amended several times and currently reads that abortions can only be federally funded in the cases of rape, incest or life threatening circumstances for the mother. Let me just take a minute here to say that these cases only make up <3% of abortions performed annually. If these were the only abortions in our country that we were having to deal with, it would be a different story. Now, I believe, as I stated earlier that every life has meaning and is planned by God. But I'm just saying that if the real "hard" cases were the only ones to deal with--this whole thing wouldn't be where it is.

Now, looking at the people on the other side of the argument--which is where I stand, obviously. We don't agree with Planned Parenthood on any level. That's just how it is. We don't segregate their services to say "some are okay so they need federal funding for those." No, there's nothing wrong with performing physicals and pap smears for under privileged women. That's actually an honorable thing. But we cannot agree with handing out birth control to 14 year olds without parental consent or claiming "doctor/patient confidentiality" when performing STD testing on underage girls. Not even to mention the fact that their #1 source of billions of dollars a year is abortions. Yes, people, that's why they are here. You can dress it up and gloss it over as much as you want--but that's what PP is here for. I can promise you that if abortion was outlawed today, Planned Parenthoods all over the country would be closing their doors (after a big, long fight I'm sure) because the other services that they provide are just a drop in the bucket. They are definitely a nice little "cover-up" for people to stand behind when they stand on their side. They are a great little step stool in helping PP advocates get up on their high horses about how religious people just must not care about the unfortunate of our society. And they are a great way for PP to get uninformed citizens to stand behind them when laws like this are making their way through the government. But there's no doubt that it's all about the money that's brought in from abortions--and it's not those <3% cases of rape, incest or life threatening situations.

That's why we, as Christians, have to stand behind the Pence Amendment. God's word is very clear--murder is wrong. And science is also just as clear--life begins at conception. That's not even what the debate is anymore. Abortionists used to be able to get away with that--telling moms it was just a cluster of cells like a blackberry. But we know too well now. We know that the heart starts beating at 3 weeks gestation, before most women even know they are pregnant. We can see babies moving in the womb as early as 7 weeks. By 12 weeks, babies have every system of the body functioning (which, by the way, is how scientists prove whether something is actually alive or not.) No, that's not the argument anymore. In our enlightened day and age the argument comes down to "Whose life and happiness is more important--the mother or the baby's?"

Planned Parenthood is making billions off of uneducated, non-counseled, desperate women every year. They are shuffling women out the back door after an abortion so that the women coming in can't see their pain. They are exploiting minors and helping out pimps and sex traffickers (Have you seen the under cover youtube videos that are in state governments under review all over our country?) and we cannot support any law that would give any of our tax dollars to them.